Flight attachment



July 3, 1951 E. c. c. MILLER FLIGHT ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 25, 1949 INVENTOR Ihll 7L )9i Wham@ ATTORNEY Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLIGHT ATTACHMENT Ernest C. C.Mller, Laurelton, Y. Application January 25, 1949, Serial No. 72,715

In the said patent there is described a flight attachment for flexibly mounting flights in a conveyor, as in the conveyor of a self-loading refuse truck.l The flights are flexibly or re- 4 olaimg.` (rc1. 19a-175) siliently mounted on the conveyor side chains,

and the flight mountings are so arranged as to adequately protect the bearing parts, springs, etc. from mechanical injury or contamination by refuse' yand `other foreign matter. In thesaid patent and in other prior-art devices employing It is a general object to meet the above objects v with a structure that is simple and relatively cheap to manufacture and which, at the same time, is adequately rugged and easy to service.

Other objects and various further features of the invention will be pointed out or will occur to those l,

skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In said drawings, which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view, partly in section and showing a conveyor carrying a resilient flight mounting that incorporates features of the invention; p

Fig. 2 is a view in section more or less in plane of the lines 2 2 of Fig 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View more or less in the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Briefly stated, my invention contemplates a resilient flight mounting, wherein resilient forces 45 Referring to the drawings, my invention is shown in application to a conveyor having a side chain 5, which may be one of two conveyor side chains supported in spaced relation within a self-loading refuse truck. At spaced intervals along and between such side chains there may be supported flights, such as the flight 6, for the conveyance of refuse' into the body of the truck. Each chain of .the conveyor 5 mayinclude links such as the link 'I between spaced pivotal connections 8. Rollers 9 may be supported at each pivot location.

In accordance with the invention, I provide novel resilient mounting means for the night ii and carried by the conveyor chain 5, and it will be understood that a similar mounting means may be carried by the other side chainlnot shown) for supporting the other side of the ilight 6. The mounting may comprise two relatively rotatable members IIl-ll in mutual supporting relation, and both members Ill-II may be supported on the extended shank I2 of one of the pivot pins I3 between chain links. The members IIl-II may define a space between them; and in the 'form shown such space is annular, as by forming the member I I essentially as a disc, and the member II) as an annular cup tting the disc II. Both members Ill- II may include boss or bearing portions I4-I5, respectively, which intert for relatively rotatable support of members IIl-I I, and, if desired, a wear bushing I6 may be inserted between the boss portions I4-I5. `In order to anchor the plate ordisc member II to the conveyor, a Vstud Il.

with a rivet head may be carried thereby for riveted engagement with the link l, as shown in Fig. 1. A securing nut I8may be threaded to the projecting shank I2 of the pivot pin I3 in order to secure the relatively rotatable members Iil-II to each other and to the conveyor; and a cover disc I9 may be seated against the bottom of a counterbore in the cup member I0 and held therein, as by a snap ring 20, in order to seal off one side of the flight-mounting assembly. If desired, felt or other seal means 2| may be heldin anv'annular groove in the periphery of the disc member Ilfor 'continuous engagement with the inner surface of the cup member It, in order to seal oif the other side of the assembly. If desired, the nut I8 may be a so-called castle nut, so that a cotter pin (not shown) may hold the nut I8 against loosening.

In order to limit relative angular movement of the two flight-mounting members ill-II, I provide spaced abutment means on these members. In the form shown, such abutment means comprises spaced webs 22-23 which may be formed integrally with the cup member l and extend generally radially between the boss I4 and the outer skirt of the cup member I0. A nXed abutment 24 on the disc member II may project into the annular space between members Ill-H and between the abutments 22--23.

For the forms shown, I employ single-acting resilient means to urge the night abutment 22 normally against the conveyor abutment 24 Such spring means may resiliently absorb flight loads tending angularly to displace the abutments 22--24 apart, but the abutment means 23 will be understood to limit the extent of such displacement. The resilient means may vbe a single coil spring 25 reacting between the two relatively rotatable members and, in the form shown, the spring 25 is guidably supportedwithina passage 26 in the cup member I0. The passage 26 may communicate with the annular open space within the cup so as to provide a means of resilient abutment with a second nxed abutment member 21 carried by the disc member I. To improve the action of resilient abutment, I prefer to employ a generally hollow guide member or nose 28 to be slidably guided by the passage 26 and to locate and receive the spring 25. The abutment end of the member 28 may directly engage the abutment 27, and one or the other or both these members may be formed with a rounded abutment edge, as at 3U, in order to promote a good abutment for any angular relationship of the relatively rotatble members l-I l. q

The passage 26 which slidably guides the resilient means 25-28 may be extensive to such an extent that it may be open at the outer end of the night-,mounting arm 3|, to which the flight is secured. When secured'in this Vmanner, it will be understood that the spring 26 may be suitably preloaded as the securing bolts 32 are tightened.

It will be appreciated that I have described a relatively simple resilient night mounting. The parts of my mounting may be extremely rugged and readily accessible for servicing. All moving parts may be adequately sealed against the entrance of foreign matter, andyet the spring means 25 may be easily removed and replaced merely by dislodging the night 6. When so dislodged, the reaction point for the spring 25 will have been removed so that no parts will be stressed, Conversely, in asesmbling my night mounting there is no danger to personnel due to any necessity for preloading the spring means during assembly, .for the preloading is accomplished after all night-mounting parts have been assembled and during a nnal take-up ofthe securing bolts 32.

While I have described my invention in-detail for the preferred form shown, it will be understood that modincations may be made Within the scope of the invention as denned in the appended claims.

, I claim:

1. In a night mounting, a pair of relatively rotatable membersrotatably secured together,

one of said members including means for attachment to a conveyor and the other of said members including means for detachably supporting a flight, abutment means on said one member, longitudinally displaceable spring means carried by said other member and engageable with said abutment, one end of said spring means being disposed for operative supporting engagement with a night supported by saidV other member.

2. In a night mounting, a pair of relatively rotatable members rotatably secured together and denning an enclosed space between them, an abutment on one of said members and projecting into said space, the other of said members having a guide opening extending more or less tangentially into said enclosed space, spring means guided in said opening and projecting into said space for engagement with said abutment means, and a night member disposed so as to close one end of said guide opening in abutting relation with one end of said spring means.

3. In a night mounting, a pair of relatively rotatable members denning an enclosed space between them and rotatably supporting each other, abutment means on said one member and projecting in said space, one of said members including means to be engaged by a conveyor element, the other of said members including means to engage a night, said other member having a guide passage communicating between said night and said space for accommodation of a spring to abut said abutment means at one end and to abut the night at the other end.

4. In a night mounting, a pair of mutually supporting relatively rotatable members denning an enclosed generally annular space between them, one of said members having a nrst abutment off the rotatable axis thereof and extending into said space, said one member including means to be engaged by a conveyor element, the other of said members having a generally radially extending arm for attachment to a night and said arm having a passage open at one end more or less tangentially into said space and open to the outside at the other end, spring means including second abutment means adapted to be guided by said passage for engagement with said nrst abutment means and with a night secured to the end of said arm.

ERNEST C. C. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

